


stereo (intro)

by jeanheir



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - 90s, Alternate Universe - Post-Apocalypse, Established Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-04
Updated: 2020-04-04
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:26:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23337601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jeanheir/pseuds/jeanheir
Summary: Amidst the stress of the apocalypse, Jaemin decides that a road trip is in order – and who is Chenle to decline?
Relationships: Na Jaemin/Zhong Chenle
Comments: 4
Kudos: 24
Collections: dream jukebox fest: round one





	stereo (intro)

**Author's Note:**

> prompt #8 - still sane
> 
> whoooo boy this was hard to write, but we got there in the end! im not entirely sure what's happening in this fic, but i hope someone finds pleasure from it :,]
> 
> thanks to r for helping me check over this last minute! I wouldn'tve been able to do it without ya <33
> 
> (title taken from omar apollo)
> 
> \+ sorry for any spelling mistakes, i promise yall i did my best

The snarls of stray dogs wake him up. He'd be mad if it weren't for the fact that animals were a rare sight now, but given the circumstances, he just watches them in a tired awe. Reaching for his alarm clock, he checks the time. Five minutes past six. Chenle sighs and begins to move himself out of bed, his pyjamas reeking of sweat. Ever since the apocalypse had started, his sleep had been getting much worse, waking up lucky if he had gotten more than four hours of rest.

He knows he shouldn't complain though, there are many others, like Jaemin, who have to deal with much worse. He can hardly imagine what night terrors are like for them.

Speaking of the Jaemin, he should be up by now too. He'd always been an early riser, something Chenle could never get the grasp of. How was it possible to wake up in the morning and be so energetic? He himself needed a good fifteen minutes before he was even somewhat ready to face the world.

He's told Chenle that staying outside clears his mind, relaxes his thoughts and makes it easier to handle everything around them, but even so, it worries him greatly; especially his absences in the odd hours of the day. It was a hard pill to swallow, one that made his stomach ache uncomfortably at times, but Chenle would have to deal with it, whether he liked it or not. Jaemin had finally found something to console him, take his mind off of things, and it'd be downright cruel to take it away because he felt a little paranoid at times. 

The change in the older boy's mood had been a slow but noticeable one, at least in Chenle's eyes anyway. When you've been friends, boyfriends even, for as long as the two of them have been together, it becomes gradually easier to notice signs of discomfort and unease.

At first, Jaemin had begun to say less, their conversations gradually becoming more and more dull. Then the affection had come to an abrupt halt as well, leaving Chenle touch-starved. Missing out one a few hugs here and there wouldn't be a big deal if it was anyone else, but it's Jaemin he's talking about – the most person he knew. 

Like all things, a relationship relies on communication, but the younger boy silenced his worrisome thoughts long ago, hesitant about appearing too nitpicky. He was no stranger to episodes himself, but it hurt more than he could convey to see the one he loved suffering alone. 

It had been lingering in the back of his mind for a while, but maybe it was time to stop waiting for Jaemin to come to him. Pushy was far from what he wanted to seem, but it didn't matter anymore. He had to do something, just to see the older boy's mood lighten up a bit, even the smallest fraction.

There was no solid explanation for why the apocalypse had started (though some extremists were dead set on the idea that the government had something to do with it), but it had long overstayed its welcome.

Chenle takes two breakfast bars from the kitchen and leads himself out to the front, the weather humid with little breeze. He used to adore weather like this, days in the past spent hanging around tennis tables with ice lollies in hand, long afternoons filled with carefree laughter and hanging around friend's houses and arguing over who's turn it was to do a stupid dare. Now there was nothing but the labels of bath products to entertain him, and the same old news story blaring from Jaemin's ancient radio to greet him in the morning. 

It could be worse, he tells himself. There's still running water, crops and a few canned goods to last them a while, and at least they're not alone. He doesn't know how he'd cope, living days on end without someone, Jaemin, to talk to, and it's not something he's keen to find the answer to. 

He'd lost his phone weeks ago, before everything went down, and even without paying rent he was still too poor to buy himself an upgrade, hell even, the same model. Although the connection had been terrible in itself, at least he could ring his friends every now and then.

When it had all started, the two of them had been playing video games over at Jaemin's house. The sound of lasers and machine guns had the two so immersed in their game that they had missed the first siren, the first warning.

It's not the first time that resources have become low in the past few years, especially since the first drought, but the neighbourhood's wails brought a surge of unadultured panic that he'd never felt before. He had originally thought that it was an ambulance, accidents regarding the hospital more common than not, but the closer he listened, it became clear that it wasn’t a normal alert. What really set it all in was the bangs of doors slamming shut and the shouts of panic that began to fill the street. 

Jaemin rushed to his feet, controller long forgotten, and pulled the windows shut, eyes wide. The air was said to turn slightly toxic in the first few seconds of the siren’s wails, at least that's what he'd remembered reading in a book a few years ago. 

In the midst of all of this, Chenle had been speed-dialling their friends and relatives on the clunky telephone in the kitchen, making sure they were safe with a shaky voice. 

It was only later that day that the authorities had announced the reason for the sirens: a dangerous toxin had been discovered, and inhaling it would prove not only dangerous, but incredibly fatal as well. 

Ever since then, the atmosphere around the house had dampened, worry and fear cluttering the vocal cords of the boys who could only turn to each other's pale faces for support.

“Hey,” Chenle says, casually climbing over the fence and falling down besides Jaemin with a thud, “Feel like sharing a Twix? There’s still some bars left over from when the warden stopped by last week.”

Jaemin's still half-asleep, drool dribbling from his mouth, and knees pressed to his chest to support himself. He comes back to reality with a jump, glaring at Chenle before his eyes focus on who's standing before him, expression returning back to normal.

"Don't sneak up on people like that!" 

"Sorry," The younger boy responds, only a little guilty. "Did you hear what I said?" 

Jaemin sighs, nodding. "Yeah, I'd kill for one right now. It feels like it's been forever since I had something sweet,"

"I bet Jisung is all stocked up right now, he hasn't touched his Halloween sweets since last year," Chenle hums.

"Still don't know how he managed it, with us it'd be gone within a week," 

"We're two people remember? That's to be expected," 

Jaemin snorts at this, recalling something. "Donghyuck's fatass had his gone in a heartbeat, I still remember Renjun's face when he came home and there was nothing but wrappers everywhere," 

Laughing, Chenle returns back towards the house, footsteps determined, a mission on his mind. It's been far too long since he'd had something to do, even if it was as simple as getting a Twix. He really was going crazy.

As he gnaws on a granola bar he'd found left on the kitchen counter, Chenle finds himself struggling to find a single bar of chocolate (he really hopes that he hadn't dreamt the whole thing up in a state of madness), when Jaemin stumbles through the door with his car keys in hand.

He looks frazzled, as if a great secret had been bestowed upon him, one that carried terrible consequences if not heard as soon as possible.

"Let's get out of here," Jaemin declares, already half-way out of the door by the time Chenle registers what he's just said.

It's absurd – there's nowhere to go, no one to see, but the bright look in his eyes, something Chenle had gone far too many weeks without was playing with his rationality.

Which is why five minutes later, the two boys are buckled up in Jaemin's beat-up Golf (courtesy of Jeno's multiple hit-and-runs), driving down the road to wherever took Jaemin's fancy. 

They roll up near a similar neighbourhood, one that he can vaguely remember from their childhood. A yellow house attracts his attention, and Chenle recognises it as the caretaker’s home from their old secondary school. The daisies that had been painted a few years ago were now faded, leaving incomplete petals and an odd green colour staining the wall. It had once looked pretty (often the subject of debate within the villagers — who’d painted the flowers? There wasn't such an artist in their town), but now it left a pinch of sadness within him. The darker part of his brain reminds him that nothing worthwhile lasts forever, and he does his best to shove it deeper into the abyss. It was almost like a metaphor about the state of their world now, and he didn’t like that. 

The car comes to a halt, tires screeching in surprise, and Jaemin unbuckles his seatbelt with a swift click.

They’re parked outside the school’s allotment, steel fences barely keeping the unkept weeds and overgrowth in check. The late Mrs Vinson, the school gardener, would probably wail at the sight. 

He eyes the fence suspiciously, wondering which place was the safest, when Jaemin sprints forward and propels himself over it, using more energy than he’d seen in weeks. To say that he was surprised wouldn’t be enough to describe his shock, but he has hardly any time to let his action sink in before he’s being beckoned over. “Jump over!” Jaemin calls, waving his arms with an excited grin.

Fuck it, Chenle thinks. If Jaemin was on board with it, he was too. It’s been way too long since the older boy has smiled like that, and sure it would hurt like hell afterwards, but his hands could endure a little pain. 

“So,” he starts once they're both inside the school grounds, massaging his hands in the areas that the thorns had nipped at, “What are we doing here?”

Jaemin’s ears flush, "I've been really cranky lately, and it hasn't been fair to you at all. I thought we could go out and visit some places, clear our minds a bit," 

"An impromptu road trip huh?" Chenle laughs, "Sounds like fun." He links their arms together, fingers too sensitive for hand holding, and they make their way towards the greenhouse which looked more than a little neglected. 

The flowerbeds beside it were littered with cans and crisp packets, giving it the appearance of a mini junkyard. "I can't believe how... trashy it's gotten since we graduated," 

Jaemin frowns, nodding in agreement. "I remember when we'd spend hours helping Mrs Vinson take care of all the plants she grew in the summer – I'd kill to go back to those days,"

Chenle laughs at this, "Oh yeah, because you love stressing over end of year exams more than anything,"

"The thrill of getting results back is addicting, what else can I say," Jaemin chuckles, leading them down towards a flower bed where turnips and other vegetables used to grow.

It's nice that they can joke about it now, because all those tests had left him in a tired, lazy mess as soon as they had begun approaching. He had only barely passed, mainly due to Mark's tutoring and his late-night Khan Academy sessions. Honestly, he doesn't even know how he made it past A-Levels, even a few months later. 

Jaemin had breezed through it, going out to arcades every other night, and still managing to end up at the top of his class every exam season. 

They fool around, reminiscing about the past, before one of the stricter wardens spots them yanking out weeds (for the betterment of the flowers around them), yelling at them to stop vandalising the property. It takes every fibre of Chenle's being not to start giggling right there and then, running and jumping over the fence back into the street.

"Where are we going now?" Chenle pants, still trying to catch his breath. 

"How about Julia's? I heard that there's still one where the old park around Oak Street used to be," Jaemin proposes. "I haven't actually thought this far."

He raises an eyebrow, "I thought they closed all the diners down," 

The older boy grins, "Yep, but that doesn't mean we can't hang about." Jaemin unlocks the car and slips into the driver's seat, reaching over to passengers' side to grab a silver thermos. "Besides, I brought provisions." 

The drive to the diner is a long one – mainly because Jaemin keeps pulling over to snap pictures on his Polaroid. It's refreshing to see him so eager, although Chenle's a bit concerned about how many pictures of the same blue sky he's going to take. 

He appreciated visual arts, had even dreamt of becoming a photographer himself when he was younger, but five of the same, identical pictures was too much. 

"Not that I don't love-" The younger boy starts, turning his head towards the right where Jaemin is seated, only to be met with the black lens of his camera and a sneaky grin.

His sentence dies in his mouth just as the lens clicks, leaving his mouth agape while Jaemin waves the newly-created print around, cooing at the outcome.

"As cute as ever," He winks, passing the picture along with the camera to Chenle so that he can continue driving. 

Chenle scrutinises the film, furrowing his eyebrows at the picture looking back at him. His mouth is half-open, eyes blinking and far from the definition of adorable. The initial embarrassment he had felt gets overruled by the warmth swelling inside his stomach at Jaemin's compliment. 

“I’ll get you back,” He huffs, looking through the other shots Jaemin had taken. They’re really pretty, despite the melancholy feeling he gets off of them. 

“Slim chance of that, I bet you still can’t work out how to use the camera,”

They arrive outside Julia’s parking lot soon afterwards, Chenle tinkering with the buttons on the Polaroid while Jaemin busies himself with emptying the ‘picnic’ he had stored in the boot of the Golf. 

Chenle watches in awe, “You really had this whole thing planned,” 

“Hardly, I just threw some things together last minute – let’s sit over there,” He points his free hand towards a group of benches facing the greenery, a large field covered in grass and tree stumps. 

Jaemin wasn’t the type of person to half-ass things, even a stranger could tell that. The effort he put in today, his attempts at reconciling really showed, and if Chenle hadn’t already forgiven him for his grouchiness weeks ago (he understood that everyone had their different ways of coping), he would’ve successfully melted his offended heart straight away. 

Smiling softly, he follows the older boy to the benches, sitting down beside him and wrapping his arms around his shoulders. “You don’t have to make anything up to me, we all have our off days,”

Jaemin’s eyes widened for a second, confused. “But I want to, you deserve it. We haven’t gone on a date in a while either, I feel bad.” He takes Chenle’s fingers in his own, sighing into the distance.

“Just being with you is enough for me, alright?”

“Alright,” He breathes out, locking eyes with the other. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Chenle smiles, leaning against him softly.

**Author's Note:**

> comments and/or kudos are greatly appreciated <3 
> 
> you can find me [here!](https://mobile.twitter.com/jeanheir)  
> 


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